Charlie Cardinal
Charlie at a Ball State Cardinals football game in 2011.
University	Ball State University
Conference	MAC
Description	Anthropomorphic cardinal
First seen	1927

Charlie Cardinal is the mascot of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He is an anthropomorphic cardinal.

Ball State's athletics teams have been known as the Cardinals since 1927. Originally nicknamed the "Hooserions," discontent led to a school newspaper-sponsored contest to find a new nickname. When no acceptable choices came, a committee was formed, and it was a member of this committee, Professor Paul Billy Williams, who came up with the new nickname of Cardinals. He came up with it while talking to Coach Norman G. Wann, another committee member, about how the logo of his favorite team, the Saint Louis Cardinals, looked distinctive on the jersey of Rogers Hornsby.

Actor and mime Doug Jones portrayed Charlie when he attended Ball State in the early 1980s.

References

BallStateSports.com

v t e Ball State University
Located in: Muncie, Indiana
Academics	Colleges: Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning Miller College of Business College of Communication, Information, and Media Teachers College Other: Burris Laboratory School Center for Business and Economic Research Center for Energy Research/Education/Service Center for Middletown Studies Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities
Athletics	Ball State Cardinals Football Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Scheumann Stadium Worthen Arena Ball Diamond Irving Gymnasium Pride of Mid-America Marching Band Blue Key Victory Bell Bronze Stalk Trophy Charlie Cardinal Mid-American Conference
Campus	History Beneficence Bracken House Bracken Library Christy Woods Emens Auditorium Frog Baby LaFollette Complex Observatory Owsley Museum of Art Shafer Tower Wheeler-Thanhauser Orchid Collection and Species Bank
Student life	WBST WBSU-TV WCRD WIPB
People	Alumni Ball brothers Presidents
Founded: 1918 Students: 21,597 Endowment: $212.8 million

v t e Ball State Cardinals football
Venues	Ball State Field (1924–1967) Scheumann Stadium (1967–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Indiana State (Blue Key Victory Bell) Northern Illinois (Bronze Stalk Trophy)
Culture & lore	Charlie Cardinal The Pride of Mid-America Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e Ball State Cardinals men's basketball
Venues	Ball Gymnasium (1925–1963) Irving Gymnasium (1963–1992) Worthen Arena (1992–present)
Culture & lore	Charlie Cardinal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1942–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

v t e Mascots of the Mid-American Conference
East Division	Zippy (Akron) Freddie and Frieda (Bowling Green) Victor E. Bull (Buffalo) Flash the Golden Eagle (Kent State) Swoop (Miami) Rufus (Ohio)
West Division	Charlie Cardinal (Ball State) No mascot (Central Michigan) Swoop (Eastern Michigan) Victor E. Huskie (Northern Illinois) Rocky the Rocket (Toledo) Buster Bronco (Western Michigan)

Former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee mascot

References